A Comparison of Childfree and Child-Anticipated Married Couples

Abstract

Among ever-married women aged 20-24 US childlessness rates increased from 25% in 1960 to 44.7% in 1975. It is currently estimated that 10% of all ever-married women remain childless with approximately 1/2 doing so voluntarily. This study takes an approach of using postponers as a control group and studies couples directly; it focuses on the quality and type of marriage and the sex role orientation of the spouses. The study does not show a significant difference between childfree and child-anticipated couples with respect to marital adjustment marital type and sex role orientation although a trend was observed suggesting that childfree women tend to view themselves as less sex-typed than child-anticipated women. These findings contrast with studies reporting higher marital adjustment for the childfree when they are compared to parents. The younger husbands were found to have more traditional sex role orientations with no differences observed between the groups; the middle aged husbands were found to be less sex stereotyped with the childfree less sex-typed than the child-anticipated; and the older subjects were found to be mostly androgynous with no differences between the groups. Overall the available literature indicates that childfree couples do not differ from child-anticipated couples in regard to their marital adjustment but that the childfree report better marital adjustment than parents. Given the negative attitudes toward the childfree it is important that educators create an atmosphere that regards voluntary childlessness as a valid lifestyle.